ISLAMABAD: Pakistani judoka ace Qaisar Khan Afridi has flown to Mongolia to compete in the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam -100kg event, the Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) announced on Tuesday.

Some 227 judokas from 28 countries will take part in the event which will take place from June 24 to 26 in the Mongolian capital.

“Before participating in the event, Qaisar will take part in a nine-day training program organized by the International Judo Federation (IJF) in collaboration with the Mongolian Judo Association,” the vice president of the association told APP. the PJF, Masood Ahmed.

According to Masood, three other judokas – Hamid Ali (+100 kg), Haseeb Mustafa (-81 kg) and Mohammad Asif (-73 kg) – were also likely to leave for Mongolia in the coming days to train there as well as to participate in the competition. Grand Slam.

He said the PJF had requested No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for the remaining judokas. “Their case has been submitted to the ministries of interior and foreign affairs and they will fly to Mongolia as soon as permission is granted,” Masood said.

“The participation of our judokas in the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam is also very important because it will be the first qualifying round for the Paris 2024 Olympics,” said the head of the PJF.

“After competing in the Grand Slam, Qaisar will return to Pakistan to present for biometric verification of UK visa to compete in the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.”

Qaisar alongside fellow judoka Shah Hussain Shah will compete in the Commonwealth Games, the PJF official added.

Posted in Dawn, June 15, 2022